Getting Over Hurtful Comments

[SpavVy]

Ahh those comments.
The best advise I can give is don't let it get you down, I know it's easier said than done but you can't let it eat away at you.
You know how far you've come better than anyone so embrace it and keep on learning, the way I see it those comments don't matter because at the end of the day you have a comic out there with an audience.
I applaud every indie creator out there because it's very hard to create content and it takes courage.

[Sanz]

Tell them to screw off politely. I usually say thanks for voicing your opinion

[BraveHeartTatsumaki]

Oh yeah, I've gotten them, some of them from certain people I know. I just laugh cause it's obvious all they want is to make me feel bad, and I always say "your envy makes my fame". It's better to take the good things and learn from them, but people who just come to throw their toxins to your work is better to keep them away, they're not worth of anything xD

[Zannen00]

If you compare your art with those other artist with photo realistic/perfect anatomy/colorful comic
then yes, "you'll get better with practice."

But reading thru your comic you manage to convey the story pretty well. (Expression, Location, Plot.)
Art is subjective, Getting the story clear across is what makes a comic. (Otherwise its just an illustration book lol)

[PurpleGround]

Welp. As you mentioned some comments are not meant to hurt while some DO intended to. Read them, understand them about the intention or motives behind those words. Ask why they are writng this? Why they say that? If it is clearly outright trolling then just ignores it. Haters gonna hate. Of course, the truth is always hurtful, but knowing and acknowledging the truth get us back on track. I received comments that I find to my distaste. "That eyes look fucked up" is one of them, I raged. Give it time, cool down, and after I reviewed my art... I said to myself "It does looks fucked up".

[carloswebcomic]

I've been doing comics for over ten years and the best piece of advise I can give you is to toughen up.

I know it's easy to say but when you're opening your work to the public, you're inviting others to judge. It comes with the territory.

No one is under any obligation to understand how much progress you have made with your art or how much work you've put in. Readers simply care for what's in front of them now at this very moment.

You have to make the decision, do you let other people dictate what you should be doing? Or do you just move along your own path and let others come along for the ride under your terms?

[Doubtcent]

I believe there are two types of creators of art - those who are naturally gifted, then those who have to work hard just to get to their level.

I personally am not naturally gifted. Like you I've practiced art for years, with little to no improvement in quality to the point that I thought "It'll be impossible to draw like so-and-so, even if I tried."

First of all, that is a misconception. Sure, not everyone has a natural knack at art and design. But that doesn't mean everyone can't learn how to draw something, and that doesn't mean the naturally gifted creators have the guts or determination to keep going.

Back then, I thought that my art would never be enough growing up, especially since both my twin sister and my dad had that natural talent. So anything that I thought I could try out and work on, I would be instantaneously one-upped by the closest people I knew, which was disconcerting to the point that I lost hope in creating in that field completely.

But for some reason... I went back to drawing and kept trying.

I kept practicing until all of those who were better than me stopped drawing to move on to other things. I kept practicing until I felt good about my art. I looked into anatomy, perspective, kept practicing, read a lot of manga, and kept practicing. Eventually I got a drawing tablet and thought again "Maybe I can draw digitally. It must be easier since there's layers to work with." Nope, I was very wrong. So I kept practicing.

After many years of trial and error, and I mean a lot of error, I got better.

I went from this:

(I drew this I think in 2008... )

to this:

And yet, I have little to no natural talent of my own. Instead, I've developed my skills through tiring practice, nurtured those skills, and now it's given birth to something that I can say "Wow. I used to draw like crap back then." Because I really did.
I still do. But it's better than before.

So, don't fret that people are against you. That's just how the world works. When someone sees something that they could never accomplish, they well push the person who made it down so they feel better about not being able to do the same. Working through adversity is one the best motivations for improvement, so do your best, keep practicing, and push forward. There's nowhere to go but up.

[Wolven_Sister]

I agree with what @carloswebcomic said. Words can only hurt you so much, and that's if you let them. Only you hold yourself back.

For example: I recently got one of my comics reviewed and was surprised to find they hated the art. They criticized and assumed I copied backgrounds, copied photos, said my art was too good to be from my own hands, and that I'm a beginner of digital art :/ despite they enjoyed the story and it was apparent didn't understand that comic's are an art form and can come with varying styles. (As long as you have a grasp on proper anatomy/proportions/coloring/shading/etc...then art style can be whatever you want). Now, this really stung me because I submitted to them a review for the same comic 3 years ago when the art was WORSE and the storytelling was sloppy as hell and they liked it more??

The thing is, people are going to find reasons to hate your work, doesn't matter how good you are. Yes it does hurt, yes it does suck because we're putting your creations out there, they're part of us. But everyone has their own preferences, tastes, and some people are just very picky. What I taught myself a long time ago is don't focus on the naysayers, they can't control your story, only you can. Take their words and show them off as battle scars and continue with your passion. Instead, focus on the people who DO support you and WANT you to pursue your dreams, because in the end, those are the people who really matter.

[isaacfriedman]

I actually welcome hurtful comments! I really want to see how much I can piss people off with my political or gory comics (NOT one and the same, mind you). Unfortunately, I'm not popular enough to garner hatred.

[Airgita]

There was this great tweet by an artist I follow that was basically: Art is great if you're okay with never feeling satisfied.

I think everyone at any level of artistic achievement feels this insecurity in one way or another. Someone is always going to be better than you, and that's completely fine. This is something that I think isn't as understood by people who don't make art; that it's not a zero-sum game and we don't create to be in competition with one another. We want to improve because we want to get our message across better and sometimes we see people who we think are able to do this better than us and it's frustrating because we wish we could do do it as well as they do. And this is something that is going to keep happening no matter how much better we get at drawing, nor should it ever stop. Just because one person is good, doesn't mean you can be just as good. while maybe in a different way than that first person

When I see artists who are younger or haven't been drawing for as long as I have making better work, it's hard not to feel shitty about myself but I can't let myself dwell on that for too long. It helps when I look at work that I admire and take it apart: what are they doing different than me? How did they approach the subject? Why do some elements work better than others? Then I'm not focusing so much on my bitterness.

Mean comments can be really helpful though! I drew my friend a dog one time and she pointed out that it was a really ugly dog which sent me to a spiral of butthurt with thoughts like "how dare she! Does she have no idea how long it took me to perfectly render that single dog?" But at the end of the day she was right, it was a poorly drawn dog. Doesn't matter how long it took me to draw, it was still not a very good drawing of a dog.

Sorry this was really long... And I think @blackmoorpress got it right. Having a sense of humour about it helps a lot.

[gnekomikero]

I get several Negative Comment at Imgur But I dont get offended for what they say but instead I will absorb it as my motivation for improvement. Even at 9gag "ANOTHER TRASH COMIC" well Im still happy that they still give effort to comment me. Just be positive. My philosophy --- Don;t quit Just Do it. Don;t get down easily for what they say .. sit, draw, study, draw again and learn... you will improve

[kambreapratt]

I too agree with this. Been around comics for years (both print and web) and you have to have a thick skin.

Will comments hurt? yeah! I mean one person actually made fun of our kids on Facebook (turned out he was mad our comic was performing better than his favorite) and there was absolutely no reason for it.

Some comments might sting, but if you look at what they are saying, sometimes they have valid crit, but they present it in a crappy way. Point is, you are putting it out there, it will attract attention, both good and bad. When and if you get to publishers, they can be very blunt. So get used to it now.

[Caelestie]

Excuse me but potatoes are great and should not be put in the same hater category! man gotta show my potato badge! I am the potato police and nobody is going to be unkind to them!

[carloswebcomic]

Excuse me but potatoes are great and should not be put in the same hater category! man gotta show my potato badge! I am the potato police and nobody is going to be unkind to them!

Yes!
As a proud member of the Patriotic Potato Liberation Front, I enthusiastically support this post.

[AngieVX]

I invented a trick to myself. I thank them for pointing out what they don't like and for their efforts in writing feedback. When you say "thank you", you actually start feeling more relaxed. You don't have to explain yourself, your choices, anything, just thank them and keep on drawing!

[DsCashewsOfficial]

It's difficult dealing with negative comments and some days it will bother you more than others. Some days you will feel on top of the world and nothing bothers you at all. Just a natural cycle.

But remember, as artists our biggest issue is getting exposure. If people are giving you negative comments it means your work had some effect on them. Who knows...their negativity may even turn into something positive for you. Maybe they are being an ass and showing their friends saying "hey look at this stupid comic" (not saying you comics are stupid...just using this as an example ) and maybe their friends don't think its stupid at all...now you've just gained loyal readers out of what seemed to be a negative situation.

We never know how our readers will come to us but each on is important so just keep focusing on getting your work out there as much as possible.

[FixerTheWise]

If someone is really mean to you in the comments, to me that just means there is something fundamentally broken with them. I could'nt even imagine posting anything deliberately hurtfull to anyone, even if they deserve it. It just seems like a waste of time to me.

Of someone wants to get you down they just want to get you down to their level on insecurity. Don't let them.

However, make sure to not confuse critisism with just mean comments.

[R.n.P]

Just wonder where people get so much time to give off a bad comment when most of the comments you get are good
N if the comment is not meant to annoy you then you can see how you can do better to shut your critics up.
That what I've been doing to a friend of mine that gives me bad comments on my comic over a year now but lately he's starting to acknowledge my improvements. Just in case any one checks to see if I actually have bad comments on my webcomic then you wont see the comments, he basically says it to my face at school and anytime he reads my comic at his freetime.
THE LAST SAMURAI

[HVOICE]

At some point it's just something you have to accept. If you keep going down this road, whether you're successful in comic making or not you'll get comments like those. Especially the more popular you become.

Don't ever let a hater's opinion change the outcome of your work though. Just throw their comments in the back of your mind, they're not worth your time. As far as I'm concerned, if they don't like my comic, then fuck them they can read anything else for all I care.
"Trying to impress someone that hates you is the same as wasting your fucking life".
That's a quote from one of my favorite lead singers, and he couldn't be more right.
Be yourself and like what you like, fuck everyone else.

You'll see that a lot of popular artists don't even bother to reply to any of their commenters. I'm assuming its either because they don't have time, or they just don't read them at all.Which I think is a great idea to a point. It sucks you wouldn't be able to interact with your readers, but then you at least wouldn't be bombarded as much by the anxiety of worrying about what people think of your work.

I'm not saying its dumb to be hurt by those comments, believe me it pisses me off to no end when I get those. It usually takes a session of cleaning the house or something to help me get over it. Just don't let things like that break you our make you change directions in what you're doing. The only time I ever let another person's opinion effect my story is if its from a critique and they point out some valid flaws or actually help me get better ideas to change something.

[eagle1]

Time for one of those harsh reality type things that I tend to hand out.

There are crappy people in the world. They take a certain amount of pleasure in the pain, embarrassment and hurt of others. There is nothing that can be done to stop them. They have the (depending on country) right to say pretty much anything they want. They can call you anything they want, make all of the insults they want, and in general do anything they want to try to get a rise out of you. They have rights. They are using them in a piss-poor way, but they are exercising their rights.

People who intentionally cause other beings pain meet the only definition of Evil that I use.

There is no right to be free of this type of act. However, when it comes down to it, words only have power over you if you allow them to. People expressing their opinion, no matter how hurtful, no matter how targeted, are simply expressing an opinion. They are not physically touching another person, nor are they doing anything that we want to censor, since there is no such thing as an acceptable amount of censorship.

My best solution for this is simply ask myself why I care about their opinion. The usual answer is "I don't." That usually does it for me. On those rare occassions when it doesn't, I have to stop and ask myself what the real problem is. It could be a list of things, such as I fear that they might be impacting my reputation amongst people I do care about, or that what they are saying might be hitting a little too close to the truth, but in the end, any hurt that I feel is due to me allowing someone's words to get through my shields.

It's not foolproof, but I get a little better at it every day. And it's far better to not let the words affect you than it is to try to heal every time something hurtful is said.

Eagle
(And there are true Shittes on the interwebz)